Thus far the land as such, and as the scene of God's fellowship with His people, constitutes the 'inheritance,' which may be regarded as pertaining either, ultimately and absolutely, to Him, or, derivatively and conditionally, to them. So con- crete an idea, however, determined thus religiously, could scarcely fail in course of time to be still further spiritualized, as indeed appears in two directions. This is not the place to imjuiro how far the conception even as already delined may represent the reflection of subsequent modes of thought upon the conditions of an earlier time ; but in any case in certain later wTitings it under- goes a further develojmient. On the one hand, OT faith learns to claim not the land but J" Him- self, fellowship with whom within its borders lends it its significance and value, as the true and proper ' inheritance.' I'robably we are to find the iniiiicdiate suggestion of this way of thinking in the provision by which the priests (Nu 18") and the I^evites wnerally (Dt 18^) were to have no territorial inheritance allotted to them : J" was to be their inheritance. That is to say, their portion was to consist of the altar-duos and lirst- fruits (Dt 18'-») ollered by the Israelites to J ', ' the service of the god of the land' being 'a burden on the land ' (W. li. Smith, ItS p. 221)). I'rom this the step was a short one to the employment of the tcriii to signify that enjoyment of God which is the ob-
ject of religious faith and hope always (cf. I's W). In any case by the lime of Jeremiah the concep- tion of J" as the 'portion' of His people was a common one (Jer lO''^ 51'"), while in cerUin of the I'salms even individual faith claims Him thus (73^ 119»' 142^). from the other side, again, the original signification of the term gives way siiiiUarly. J"8 'inheritance' ceases to l>e the land His people occupy, and becomes rather the people itself. Israel is, in a special sense. His own, brought out of Egj-pt 'to be ui-tc Him « people of inheritance' (Dt 4'-»), 'chosen to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth' (Dt 7')— ' j"'8 portion is His people ; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance' (Dt 32^)— a conception which broadens out under the influence of the later univcrsalism until it includes the Gentiles also (Is 19^ 47« U3'', Ps 2"). Here the idea has parted with its original associations altogether. In place of attaching to what is at most only a fundamental condition of the realization of the covenant, it now e.\presses that mutual appropriation and enjoyment of each other on the part of God and His people which is the essence of the covenant itself. ."Still, this by no means represents the ordinary usage of the terra anywhere in the OT. Even when it becomes most highly volatilized, so to say, OT thinking remains charged with elements which belong to the outward conditions amid which it has arisen. The fellowship of God and His people, even in its perfect form, is always represented as to be main- tained in the territory originally iissured to them ; and to the last it is an essential feature in the picture of the Messianic time that the people shall then at length enter upon sure and peaceful possession ol their own land (Is GO-', Jer 23", rs 37° etc.. To 4'-), where they shall enjoy the immediate presence of their God and serve liiin in righteousness (Ezk 37-'"''' etc.).
ii. New Testament. — In the NT use of the term these limitations naturally disappear. Here also hope grounded on divine promises retains thecentral place in the religious life (Ko 8-^, cf. He 11), and Its content as a fellowship with Himself into which God ''raciously introduces men is the same alwaj's ; but tlie external conditions amid which in the OT this is realized remain in the NT merely as a metaphorical colouring in the language expressive of the final spiritual good made available through Jesus Christ. Thus our Lord's saying, ' Blessed are the meek: for they shall inhtrit tlic oirth' (Mt 5*), may be regarded merely as a figurative mode of signifying the fulness of life and blessed- ness to which faith ultimately brings men (so Mej'er and others ; for a more literal interpretation see Expositor's Greek Testament, in lor.). Else- where Jesus speaks of the faithful inheriting ' the kingdom ' (Mt 2.'>"), which, in accoriianco with His general tejiching, is not merely already come, but also, and even more, awaits realization in the future. And again. He repre-tents this as syn- onymous with entering upon ' life eternal ' (Mt iS", cf. Mk lu"), but neither term does He define more fully. In the earlier a|)Ostolic writings a similar indcterminateiiess of u.sage prevails. In Ja, for example, that which faith inherits is ' the king- dom which God hath promi-ed to them that lova Him ' (2°), or again, ' the crown of life' which has been similarly promi.sed (!'''), iHitli expressions being employed to denote generally the ultimate full posses-sion of sjilvation. In 1 iMlie connexion of iilcMS is only Blithtly more elalioratc. Here singular stre.is is laid upon the hope which lies at the heart of faith always. 1'os.Mession of it is the ilistinctivo note of the Christian life (1' 3'*) ; it looks towards the I'arousia and the ' grace ' which «hall l>e 'manifested' then (r-*-'*5'-') j and ju.st